Theme of the Year

Innovate

Bash the Trash

Marion Street Elementary School students are putting their own creative spin on music during their music classes. Under the direction of music teacher Kara Boulay, students in grades 1-5 have started using recyclable materials to make their own instruments.

Students have been creating whatever instrument they desire with their materials. Some have successfully built a guitar using a tissue box, rubber bands and paper towel roll, while others have made drums using milk cartons and more. The lesson allows students to not only become innovators but also has inspired teamwork and an enhanced love of music. The classes will perform with their instrument creations before the school year comes to a close.

Middle School Coding Masters

Lynbrook North Middle School eighth-graders enrolled in the middle school coding course worked on creating their own games on March 1. The interactive course, which is taught by teacher James O’Hara, allows students to learn how to write block code and JavaScript.

The coding course was added to the middle school curriculum for both Lynbrook North Middle School and Lynbrook South Middle School about two years ago, giving students important technical skills in a world where technology is constantly evolving. According to Mr. O’Hara, students create coding projects during the class sessions which include themed games. The students populate their own codes and work diligently on their tablets to make their ideas come to life. They then share their games with their peers.

The course introduces many students to coding for the first time. Those that wish to pursue a career in this field can build on their foundation with one of the applied mathematics courses at Lynbrook High School such as Advanced Placement Java Programming.

Lynbrook Senior to Compete at International Level

Lynbrook High School senior Kaylie Hausknecht will take her science research skills to the big stage as she competes in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona from May 11-18. The fair, which is a program of Society for Science & the Public, is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition for high schoolers.

Kaylie is among about 1,800 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions and territories who were selected to compete at the Intel ISEF. Here, these driven student-scientists will showcase their independent research to doctoral level scientists and compete for an average $4 million in prizes.

To be selected for the Intel ISEF, students around the world compete in local and school-sponsored science fairs. The winners of these events go on to participate in Society-affiliated regional and state fairs from which the best win the opportunity to attend the Intel ISEF. Kaylie competed in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair with her project “Disentangling Spatial Correlations from Inhomogeneous Materials with Shift-Invariant Artificial Neural Networks.” She placed in the top 25 percent of more than 300 projects in round one and then had to be the best in her category, Physics and Energy, to be invited to ISEF. Only 20 students from the LISEF make it to the Intel ISEF level.

“Kaylie can do anything and do it well, including just being a regular kid. That’s what makes her so awesome,” said science research teacher David Shanker. “I knew in ninth grade that Kaylie was special. For her final project, Kaylie designed an apparatus that induced head injury in fruit flies and built another to test their response to a treatment she also designed. Kaylie did three projects in one.”

Congratulations, Kaylie!

Sixth-Graders Transform Into Game Inventors

Lynbrook North Middle School sixth-graders in Christine DeSimone’s math classes put their math skills and creativity to the test as they designed their very own math board games. Working in groups of three to four students, the goal of the project was to create a math board game that could help other students review what they have learned this year.

Each group brainstormed an instructions sheet for their game which included the object of the game, recommended ages of the players and the amount of players that the game is suitable for. Students also had to incorporate at least 20 mathematical question cards into their board game with at least five cards being a word problem. The math problems related to topics from units that the students learned this year. This included Operations with Decimals, Operations with Fractions, GCF/LCM, Exponents/Order of Operations/Algebra problems, Solving Equations, Inequalities, Ratios, Unit Rates, and Proportions.

The sixth-graders added game pieces, along with fun clipart and illustrations to bring their games to life. After testing out their projects, the games were displayed for other groups in their class to try. The activity was a great way to build upon mathematical knowledge in a fun and creative way!

West End Scientists

Students at West End Elementary School presented their research projects during the school’s annual Science Fair on March 7. Family members were invited to the special event in the school gymnasium where the young scientists discussed their projects and showed off their display boards.

Great job to all the participants!

Lynbrook High School Students Take on the Spark! Challenge

Lynbrook High School students in Dr. Benedict Tieniber's virtual enterprise class participated in the Northwell Health’s Spark! Challenge last month, designed to ignite students’ interest in healthcare careers. Northwell teams, educators and students from across Long Island are coming together for the Spark! Challenge to inspire and introduce students to the many career areas which require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills.

Northwell professionals provided the students with an immersive experience as the class visited a new Northwell Health building in Syosset where they received a closer look at operating rooms, a sterilization room, storage rooms, inpatient room and more. They also visited a Northwell Health building in Great Neck where students learned about the 3-D printing involved to make prosthetics. Here, students observed prosthetic hearts, fins, skulls and more.

Through these two visits, the students were able to see the businesses in action. The behind the scenes experience and chance to interact with members of the Northwell team was a special one for many of the students.

“This opened my eyes to new job opportunities in life,” said senior Sal Cimato.

The students involved will create a career advertisement for one of the careers or jobs that they observed during their visit to Northwell Health. Students will connect their career advertisement to Northwell Health’s Culture of C.A.R.E. (Connectedness, Awareness, Respect, and Empathy) patient promises. Following the career advertisement project, the students will conduct a two-minute presentation about the same career and Culture of C.A.R.E. promise spotlighted in each of the students advertisement during a Spark! Challenge Awards Celebration on April 11.

Lynbrook Seniors Crowned Semifinalists in Regeneron Competition

Juliana Condoleo and Kaylie Hausknecht, both seniors at Lynbrook High School are among 300 semifinalists in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the nation’s most prestigious science and math competitions for high school seniors. As two of the 300 top scholars in the competition, Juliana and Kaylie will each receive $2,000 with an equal amount going toward Lynbrook High School to be applied to science, technology, engineering and math education.

Both students are now in the running to become one of 40 finalists. These students will be determined later this month. If selected as a finalist, the students will receive an all-expense-paid trip in mid-March to Washington, D.C., where they will compete for more than $1.8 million in additional awards, including a grand prize of $250,000.

Juliana was selected for her project titled, “Investigating the Novel Role of the Activated Cdc-42-Associated Tyrosine Kinase (ACK1) in Learning and Memory using a DAck Null Allele in Drosophila melanogaster,” while Kaylie was selected for her project, “Disentangling Spatial Correlations in Inhomogeneous Materials with Shift Invariant Artificial Neural Networks.”

Congratulations to both students on this tremendous achievement!

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Students Dive into the World of 3D Design

Lynbrook North Middle School sixth-graders in Peter McNally’s technology class recently practiced their creativity skills with a trip to the school’s computer lab where they worked with the 3D printing design program, Tinkercad. The program allows students to create and design 3D shapes and objects, program, stimulate and assemble electronics, as well as learn to code.

The sixth-graders learned how to use the snipping tool while creating basic shapes and designs and practiced moving objects in the program. Library Media Specialist Kelly Napolitano facilitated the lesson with the help of McNally. Both walked around the computer lab to provide support as the students completed lessons.

“Tinkercad is really a way for them to learn how to manipulate different shapes to create something new,” said Napolitano. “It involves problem-solving and walks students through the trial and error process.”

Although the sixth-graders are new to the program, Napolitano explained that they can download and print their designs with a 3D printing program in the school’s library.

Up for the Regeneron Challenge

Ten talented science research students from Lynbrook High School recently submitted their original research to the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search, known to be the most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. The 10 Lynbrook students hope to being among the top students in the nation who will be selected as one of the Top 300 Scholars.

Approximately 1,800 students from throughout the country enter Regeneron STS each year in competition for more than $3.1 million in awards. This year’s Lynbrook High School seniors include Kai Beattie, Alyssa Burton, Juliana Condoleo, Kaylie Hausknecht, Brandon Pekale, Kyle Schneider, Pooja Shah, Jason Shao, Jason Sitt and Matthew J. Venezia. The students have worked diligently on their science research projects at Lynbrook High School under the guidance of science research teachers Peter Dennis, David Shanker and Charles Vessalico and at various colleges and universities such as Columbia University and Yale University. Semifinalists will be announced on Jan. 23, 2019.

“Every November, for over seventy years, a small group of students all over the country submit reports about their original research to the Science Talent Search, making it one of the most prestigious pre-college research competitions, creating an atmosphere of excitement as well as the stress of meeting deadlines,” said science research teacher David Shanker. “This year, ten Lynbrook High School Research Program seniors exceeded their expectations, submitting papers that reflect months and, in many cases, several years of hard work. The district is so proud of these students’ accomplishments and have pride in being a part of this tradition of academic excellence.”

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West End STEAM Night

More than 125 students and their special guests attended West End Elementary School’s first STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) Night on Nov. 13, in collaboration with Molloy College. Prior to the anticipated event, West End students from grades 1-5 were encouraged to sign up with an adult for the evening of exploration and innovation. Learn more about the exciting event by watching the video below!

LHS National Art Honor Society Hosts Night of the Pumpkins

Members of Lynbrook High School’s National Art Honor Society did not let the stormy weather deter them from giving back as they hosted their annual Night of Pumpkins event on Oct. 27. Watch the video to learn more about this year’s charity event and the incredible talents of the National Art Honor Society members!

Research Students Further Studies During Summer Months

Science research students at Lynbrook High School embraced the summer break with new educational opportunities to further their knowledge and research abilities through a variety of different programs and outlets. Eight juniors and 16 seniors from Lynbrook High School pursued research projects spanning different science topics.

Below is a list of these outstanding students and their projects from the summer months. Many continued their work in the lab of Lynbrook High School this year. Students worked with science research teachers Peter Dennis, David Shanker and Charles Vessalico, and professors in the field who provided them with support in their studies.

Juniors

Emily Awad – Worked at New York University Winthrop in the Research and Academic Center. She studied to see the effect of trophoblasts on the offspring of pregnant women.

Arpie Bakhshian – Worked at Weill Cornell and used genetic engineering to study irritable bowel syndrome.

Natalie Cardoso – Worked at Fordham University in the Youth Development in Diverse Contexts Lab under Dr. Tiffany Yip. Natalie cleaned data through Biopac software to advance studies in ethnic racial identities.

Elena Grajales – Worked at the New York University Langone Medical Center at the Skirball Institute of Molecular Neurobiology studying the sestrin -1 gene and its role in the brain.

Julie Lampert – Studied Cellulose Nanocrystals at the University of Colorado.

Mikayla O’Hagan and Andie Glanzer – Worked at Hofstra University studying the effect of tree canopy loss on Long Island.

Maria Russotti – Worked at Columbia University in the Banta Lab conducting various experiments associated with substrate channeling.

Seniors

Kai Beattie – Worked at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Institute to evaluate the relationship between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and the metalloprotease meprin in genetically engineered mice and mouse prostate cancer cell lines. Kai concludes its relevance to tumor progression and growth.

Alyssa Burton – Worked in-house on a project set out to answer the question, “how can we stop school shootings?” Using publicly available student-to-counselor ratio’s and student violence data, along with socioeconomic status, Alyssa aimed to draw correlations related to school violence.

Juliana Condoleo – Worked at SUNY Farmingdale and investigated the novel role of ACK1, a protein kinase, in the learning and memory of drosophila melanogaster through an olfactory appetitive association.

Jason Holquist – Worked in-house to test the effect of alcohol exposure to adult Drosophila melanogaster on the expression of DILP peptides in future generations as a model for fetal alcohol syndrome.

Brandon Pekale – Worked in-house to construct a survey on the effect of HIV/AIDS on the Quality of Oral Health in Adults Residing on Long Island with a professor from Hofstra.

Kyle Schneider – Worked in-house to determine whether the cryopreservation of fruit fly larvae for long term storage could be enhanced using warm breaks and increasing time between cold and warm periods.

Pooja Shah – Worked at Yale to analyze the loss of TSP2 through varying extracellular matrix production deposits on prevention of diabetic nephropathy.

Jason Shao – Worked in-house to test the effect of e-cigarette vapor on the bacteria of the lungs to assess lung infection risk.

Jason Sitt – Worked at Columbia University on his project on modulation of microRNA-219 on synapse quantification in neuromuscular junctions within aging drosophila melanogaster.

Kirstin Slattery – Worked in-house to determine if the equestrian sport is moral by using salivary cortisol levels to assess stress in horses during riding lessons.

Matthew Venezia – Worked at the City College of New York to study how the color of tropical beetles relates to the elevation at which they live and how this data relates to how well these beetles can thermoregulate (control their temperature).

Richard Wiater – Worked in-house on his project which looks at the effect of the molecule PDMP hydrochloride on the longevity of Niemann-Pick Disease Type-C model Drosophila.

Christina Woodard – Worked in-house on a project that looks at the effect of Asian clams on algae blooms.

Kaylie Hausknecht – Worked at Harvard where she used artificial intelligence to extract local correlations in the cuprates. This is a new application of machine learning in condensed matter physics, which may help explain the properties of high temperature superconductors.

Danny Neri – Worked in-house on his project which assesses the state of a recent crab invasion by quantifying aggressive interactions between the invader, the Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguinues) and two species of native fiddler crab (Uca pugilator and Uca pugnax) in a Long Island salt marsh.

Odin Francis – Worked in-house on the production of a prototype assisted-back support system to help those with spinal cord injuries, workers and soldiers involved with heavy lifting.

Students Build Business Skills

Lynbrook High School students in Dr. Benedict Tieniber’s virtual enterprise class recently put their interpersonal and professional skills to the test as they were interviewed by Principal Joseph Rainis and assistant principals Matthew Sarosy and Salvatore Brescia about their new product, “Fit Pet.” The interviews allowed the executive board to be determined for their product which monitors a pets health, location through GPS and keeps them safe.

With the help of Dr. Tieniber, the students prepared for the interview process by refining their soft skills, interview skills, cover letter and resumes. They also had to create cover letters for the positions they wanted to run for with their resumes. Before the big day, Lynbrook High School guidance counselor Susan Moller and teachers Eric Finder and Stephen LoCicero, volunteered their free time to assist the students with mock interviews and provided tips.

The virtual enterprise course is an elective that is offered to Lynbrook High School students in grades 10-12. Corresponding with the district’s 2018-19 theme “Imagine, Innovate, Inspire,” the international program enables students to experience a simulated business environment by collaborating and solving problems in business situations. Those who successfully complete the course are eligible to receive up to nine undergraduate credits from Farmingdale State College through their University in the High School program.

Congratulations to the following virtual enterprise students on their new “Fit Pet” positions: Eric Levine, chief executive officer; Ben Tatelman, chief financial officer; Lance Ezratty and Matthew Calabro, co-chief operating officer; Ben Cohen and Miranda Zaransky, vice president of human relations; Allison Shifflett and Connor Reichert, co-vice president of sales and marketing; William Miata and Joshua Polanky, vice president of informational technology/graphics; Kerin Bartels and Jonathan Mottola, vice president editorial.

The students will participate in their first elevator pitch competition on Oct. 19 at LIU with “Fit Pet.”